DAKAR, Senegal: Rescuers pulled more than 20 bodies from the sea off northern Senegal Wednesday after a boat carrying migrants sank, a regional governor told media. The boat was heading for Europe.
“A little more than 20 bodies” had been found, Alioune Badara Samb, Saint-Louis regional governor, said, adding that another 20 people had been rescued.
Badala Sambo declined to say how many people were on board, but survivors told media it could be in the hundreds.
Mamedi Dianfo, from Casamance in the country’s far south, said the boat left Senegal a week ago with about 300 passengers.
Another survivor, Alfa Balde, spoke of the 200 passengers.
Senegal’s coast has become a common point of departure for African migrants heading for Spain’s Canary Islands, a port of entry to Europe.
